Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung passes the ball while lying on the court against Jewuan Long of Murray State.

Sometimes life just doesn’t seem fair.

That’s what Colorado State men’s basketball fans must be thinking when they receive word that senior guard Jesse Carr reinjured the ACL in his left knee this week and his college career is over.

A native of Ainsworth, Neb., Carr had been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after initially injuring the knee on September, 20, 2012. That forced him to sit out the 2012-13 season. He sat out the 2009-10 season with a strained groin.

As a true freshman in 2008-09, Carr averaged 8.8 points and appeared to be a building block for the Rams program. But injuries prevented him from reaching his on-court potential.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No matter how many years I do this, the tears are always tough to see. Colorado State’s seniors had plenty of them in the locker room after their season – and careers – came to an end with brute force in the loss to Louisville here in the NCAA Tournament.

Still.

What those seniors – Pierce Hornung, Wes Eikmeier, Dorian Green, Greg Smith and (this season) Colton Iverson – did for a dormant CSU basketball program can be nothing but celebrated. If the Rams end up being an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament, if they someday make a deep run in this tournament, whoever those players are will have these to thank.

“They’re the foundation,” CSU coach Larry Eustachy said. “They are the first steppingstone to greatness. They got everything out of what they had, and more. And more. Make no mistake about it; and more. We’ll have a nice locker room because of them, we’ll have better facilities because of them. They can come back in their five, 10, 20-year reunion and they’ll see big changes and it will be because of them.”

LEXINGTON, KY. – With allowances that this Colorado State team, in fact is not just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament and, yes, continues to have unfinished business, the win over Missouri – the Rams’ first in the NCAA Tournament in 24 years – was one of the most significant in school history.

“This is why we came here, you know, to put this program on the map and make this an expected thing each year,” guard Dorian Green said. “So this is what we set to do when we first got here on campus, and it’s great to see the hard work pay off.

“We’ve just got to stay at it and keep going because we only have 40 minutes guaranteed left. I think it’s huge for us to play with a lot of urgency but I think it’s just what we set to do since we first got here.”

Said teammate Greg Smith: “We really set out to do this when we were freshmen, especially me and Pierce (Hornung) were talking about it when we were younger. This is what we want to do at this point. Now, we’re starting to do it. This is great to see all our work paying off, and we’re trying to get a win on Saturday.”

CSU coach Larry Eustachy called the victory “historical,” and Hornung, a four-year player, helped put it into perspective as well.

“It’s huge,” Hornung said. “This is the ultimate stage and I think as a team it’s a start for what we want to accomplish. But we’re not satisfied. We still feel like we have a lot to go out there and prove.”

The bench sees CSU through. Colton Iverson leaving the game is never a good thing for CSU, which relies on the big man for so much.

“He’s so big and he draws so much attention,” Eustachy said.

But for a big chunk of the first half, Iverson was saddled to the bench with foul trouble. That’s when the bench stepped in and not only held serve, but helped CSU pull away at times as well. The trio of Daniel Bejarano, Jon Octeus and Gerson Santo combined to score 25 points, the second-highest total this season, trailing 48 points off the bench early in the season in a blowout victory over Chadron State.

These meant more.

“Octeus and Santo were just huge,” guard Wes Eikmeier said. “Especially the way Jon came in and guarded (Missouri guard Phil) Pressey. Without the bench you’re not going to tin the game.”

“Our bench is unbelievable,” CSU forward Greg Smith said. “The things that Jon, DB and Gerson come off the bench and do is just incredible when their name is called. Jon stayed in front of Pressey… Gerson gave us some really strong minutes and DB cam and made some big plays. They’ve been doing that all year. They should receive a lot more credit for it, but tonight was just a really good example of that.”

Rebounding edge. Colorado State’s 42-19 edge on the boards was the second-highest rebound margin of the season. The Rams were +24 on the boards three times – in both games against Wyoming and against Washington.

“I thought we were tremendously fresh for this game,” Eustachy said. Meanwhile, players joked afterward that they were “the freshest team in the tournament.”

“I think our guards did a great job of coming down and rebounding,” Pierce Hornung said. “They were as focused as ever at rebounding down and helping us when they could. It was just a complete team effort, I think that contributed to why we were so successful on the boards.”

X & O of the Game: Getting into the lane. Whether it was a guard breaking down his defender or cutters in the lane being hit with passes, CSU wanted paint touches and it got them. They were rewarded for that aggressive-minded play with 33 free throw attempts. The Rams made 27 and had a 10-point edge at the charity stripe.

Player of the Game: Dorian Green. It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do Thursday night, on his way to arguably his best, most efficient game of the season – 26 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 11-of-12 from the free throw line and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. CSU is now 3-1 when he scores 20 or more this season and is 7-1 when he hits three or more 3-pointers in a game.

Unsung Player of the Game: Jon Octeus. The sophomore guard had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. His 12 points were one off his season high and was the first time he scored in double figures since tallying 10 points against Air Force on Jan. 16. But his defense on Phil Pressey was the highlight. Octeus’ quick feet kept the slippery Pressey in front of the defense more often than not and contributed to the MU not having an impactful game.

Injury report: None.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dorian Green was as deft at dodging the question as he was as scoring the basketball on Thursday night. The Colorado State senior guard just was not going to be pulled into an in-depth discussion on how much, he, a Lawrence, Kan., man, hates all things Missouri.

“It didn’t matter if we were playing Missouri or whoever,” Green deadpanned. “I wanted to be aggressive from the beginning. But it feels good to be from Kansas and beat Missouri.”

The text messages from back home started pouring into Green’s cell phone mere minutes after the two teams were announced on Selection Sunday. ‘Beat Missouri,’ was the gist of it. But Green never had to be told or reminded or cajoled. It was already engrained in him.

And not even a still-healing ankle, recovering from a sprain, would stop him.

Green scored seven points right out of the gate, a big part of a 20-9 lead the Rams built by the 12:33 mark in the first half. He ended up scoring 17 points in the half on his way to a season-high 26 points on 6-of-13 shooting; 26 more points than he scored in last year’s NCAA Tournament game. And he was aggressive to the rim, one time even trying to dunk on Missouri’s biggest player and best shot-blocker, Alex Oriakhi. That aggressiveness resulted in 12 free throw attempts, of which he nailed 11.

“Dorian is unbelievable,” teammate Pierce Hornung said. “He’s a great player. We know what he’s capable of, night-in and night-out. He’s just that good a player. And we knew coming into this game with the ankle and everything that he was going to have a big game, because that’s just the type of player he is. He’s a big-game player that leads our team and I can’t say enough about what he brings to our team and how good a player he is.”

Green stayed matter-of-fact about his performance.

“I just want to come out and be aggressive, and I got a lot of good looks,” Green said. “Credit to my teammates. We moved the ball well. We’re such an unselfish team, any one of us can get it going. Tonight, it was me.”

Green’s coach, Larry Eustachy, was most impressed with Green’s ability to play solid defense on the times he guarded Missouri’s star guard, Phil Pressey.

“I think as big as anything, he did a great job of staying in front of Pressey,” Eustachy said. “We decided we were, if we’re going to lose, we were going to let Pressey beat us from the outside… So, more impressive that the 26 points was the way he played on that ankle with the pain defensively and rebounding-wise.

“I told him ‘You’re not 100 percent, but you’re going to have to play 120 percent for us to win this game. And he had to, and he did; and it’s something he’ll always remember.”

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LEXINGTON, KY – Before the start of this tournament, Missouri center Alex Oriakhi has a message to his teammates about finishing: “I tell guys, you better figure it out now because if you don’t you’re going to be home soon.”

Oriakhi, a senior, already has a national title, won in 2011 when he played with Connecticut before transferring to Missouri.

That UConn team finished games with the best of them, mostly because of big-time, late-game shot making from guard Kemba Walker. This one, Missouri, has found that finishing games many times has been a struggle.

“We definitely have to do a better job of finishing games,” Oriakhi said.

Most recently, the late-game bug bit Missouri in an Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinal loss to Ole Miss last week. Missouri had a 14-point lead in the second half, which Mississippi whittled down to none and took its first lead since 11-10 with 1.1 seconds left, a basket that stood up as the game-winner.

Missouri forward Laurence Bowers said the Tigers are looking for better execution down the stretch.

“I’ve been telling people this all year…I don’t feel that the games that we have lost have come down to the last possession,” Bowers said. “I feel like it’s been a combination of things that we did throughout the whole game. And I think that from each game, even though it’s a negative that you lose, there are positives that you can take from it. The biggest thing for us is just stand together.”

Part of standing together is standing up to a physical Colorado State team that makes its living rebounding the basketball.

Of CSU center Colton Iverson, Oriakhi said: “The big fella is averaging 14 and nine. Obviously he’s a guy you’ve got to box out. The 4-man (Pierce Hornung) crashes the glass pretty well. Me and Laurence match up pretty well because we’re able to rebound and score in the post well. It’s going to be a great game, a great battle.”

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Colorado State capped its best basketball regular season ever by cleaning up in the Mountain West all-conference honors today.

Center Colton Iverson was named to the Mountain West conference first-team, while guard Dorian Green garnered second-team honors and forward Pierce Hornung nabbed a spot on the third team.

Iverson, meanwhile, was also the MW’s Newcomer of the Year. Hornung was named to the all-defensive team and sophomore Daniel Bejarano was a bit of a surprise selection as the MW’s Sixth Man of the Year. Senior guard Wes Eikmeier was an honorable mention all-conference selection.

Colorado State senior forward Pierce Hornung has been named Mountain West men’s basketball player of the week for games through Sunday, the conference announced Monday. This is the second career MW weekly accolade for the Arvada native.

Hornung recorded back-to-back double-doubles while helping the Rams extend their program-record home win streak to 26 games with victories over Boise State and Wyoming last week.

For the week, Hornung averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field, including 75 percent (3-of-4) from beyond the arc, while registering 11 offensive rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal.

My commentary on CSU forward Pierce Hornung, the senior from Ralston Valley High in Arvada, is in the Monday paper and here. It was written in the wake of a Saturday visit to Fort Collins for the Rams’ 80-55 victory over Division II Adams State of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, a space and time filler on the CSU schedule that drew a surprisingly decent announced crowd of 3,669 at Moby Gym, with most students still gone during the Christmas break.

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State will be at full strength for its game against Colorado on Wednesday night with the return of its leading rebounder, Pierce Hornung.

Hornung missed two straight games suffering from concussion-like symptoms after taking a hit to the face in CSU’s game on Nov. 24 against Washington. But after being cleared by doctors, he practiced this morning and declared himself good to go.

“If I’m practicing, I’ll definitely play,” Hornung said. “So unless something changes I anticipate playing. I’m very excited. It (hurts) missing games. You work all year with your teammates and go out and battle with them and it’s tough not to be out there alongside them.”

Hornung also leads the team in steals with 10. In four games this season, CSU’s starting power forward has averaged 7.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

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FORT COLLINS – The adjustment period continues for first-year Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy, whose team looks for its sixth-straight win to open the season with a Saturday afternoon tilt against Evansville.

The game is part of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Conference Challenge. And in this, the final installment of the four-year agreement, it has already produced one of college basketball’s biggest early-season upsets: Boise State beating No. 11 Creighton on the road on Wednesday night. By 13 points, even.

But that result matters little to Eustachy, whose attention is on the Purple Aces. He just wants to put a normal starting lineup on the court so he can craft a steady eight or nine-player rotation. He can’t do that right now because A) starting power forward Pierce Hornung is out indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms stemming from a hit to the face he took in CSU’s game against Washington; and B) other injuries causing key players like Dorian Green to miss a game (Basically: he played one minute against Chadron State) and Greg Smith, who had his nose reset earlier this week after breaking it in a recent practice. He’ll wear a protective mask against Evansville.

“We haven’t really been able to get them all together,” Eustachy said. “So what we’ve done based on what we have is impressive.”

The Rams are 5-0 heading into The Game Before CU, with their most impressive victory coming at Washington. Still, learning his team has been a bigger chore than Eustachy would have liked as CSU closes in on one month prior to the start of conference season.

“I know when it’s right and when it’s wrong,” Eustachy said. “We’re just not right, right now as far as guys coming, guys going, guys out. I’m just not used to it. I’m not used to all of these distractions. But we’re adjusting and we know we have a real tough one tomorrow.”

Evansville is 4-2 on the season with losses to Notre Dame and Buffalo. They have just one player – Ned Cox (10.2 ppg) – that has a double-figure points average, but seven total players that average five or more points.

Meanwhile, CSU is without Hornung, who Eustachy said is not cleared for the Evansville game and is extremely doubtful for next Wednesday’s game against Colorado.

“Even if cleared I may hold him out for a couple of weeks,” Eustachy said, adding he is not sure who will start in Hornung’s place. CSU will have the services of Smith, who missed practice on Wednesday due to getting his nose reset.

“I’m just used to guys being at practice everyday unless something is broken,” Eustachy said. “That’s where I’m real proud of Greg. He had something broken, and he was there. I don’t think he would have done that in the past. I think he’s really grown up a lot, but he has to stay with it.”

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FORT COLLINS – Colorado State senior forward Pierce Hornung didn’t know if he should say anything about his condition, so he chose the cautious route of not saying anything at all.

But a college basketball source says Hornung is dealing with concussion-like symptoms after being clobbered in the face by an elbow in CSU’s game at Washington last Saturday. He’s missed just one game so far, and is 50-50 at best to be available for Saturday’s game against Evansville. The Rams might just keep him on the shelf hoping he’ll be ready for next week’s showdown game at No. 19 Colorado.

This is what Hornung did say about his status: “I’m just not feeling that great. Overall, not feeling that great.”

FORT COLLINS – It took just five games for Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy to finally speak up. The chip on his shoulder wouldn’t let him stay quiet any longer.

At issue: Recognition. As in, he wants some for his undefeated basketball team.

“We’ve won two road games, we’re 5-0 and we get no recognition whatsoever. None,” he said late Monday night after the Rams’ 85-69 win over Northern Colorado. “I think we got a vote (in the polls). UCLA can lose to San Luis-Obispo and go overtime to (UC) Irvine and lose to somebody else, and they’re still 18th. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. Our guys have a lot to prove. There’s three teams in our league ahead of us, ranked, Top 25. So it’s motivating for all of us.”

*** CU did not commit a turnover during the first six minutes of the game but eventually registered a season-high 23 turnovers.

*** The top rebounders in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament games were from the state of Colorado, with Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung getting 17 in the loss to Murray State in Louisville, Ky., and CU’s Andre Roberson snagging 16 against UNLV. Marquette’s Joe Crowder matched Roberson’s total in a win over BYU.

Colorado State's Pierce Hornung passes the ball while lying on the court against Jewuan Long of Murray State during the second round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 15, 2012 in Louisville, Ky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The time is now. All of Colorado State’s hard work has led to this – finally getting on the court in the NCAA Tournament. The 11th-seeded Rams play the tournament’s first game this morning, against sixth-seeded Murray State.

So how do the Rams win? Like this:

Rebound, rebound, rebound: If there is one area that can be a clear advantage in the Rams’ favor, it’s this one. Murray State has shown clear deficiencies in rebounding this season, and that can be a killer in a tournament scenario in two ways: A) allowing extra possessions for opponents on the offensive glass; B) being limited to fewer attempts on your own offensive possessions.

The Racers have allowed an astounding 11.7 offensive rebounds per game this season. If CSU gets at least 11 extra possessions because of offensive rebounds, this will be a much easier game for it to win. And they have the player to help get that done in forward Pierce Hornung.

The biggest storyline coming into the season was, well, CSU wasn’t very big. Height was largely absent from the roster, and that, in basketball, is a very sizeable concern.

Unless you shoot the lights out.

At the end of the day, flex offenses, pin down screens, etc. don’t matter if you can’t make the shot. It’s the most basic part of the game and the Rams earned a PhD in shooting this year.

Last season, CSU shot 46.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from the 3-point line and 69.2 percent from the free throw line. This season, those numbers jumped to 47.6 from the field, 40.5 from the 3-point line and 76.9 percent from the free throw line. The Rams led the Mountain West in all three categories and ranked sixth in the nation in free throw and 3-point percentage, and 25th in overall field goal percentage.

Tough schedule gets unexpected boosts

It’s easy to identify a tough schedule when Duke and San Diego State and Northern Iowa and New Mexico are on all it. But Colorado State got help in other places not easily identified as opportunities when the schedule was being broken down at the beginning of the season.

-Montana won the Big Sky regular season and conference tournament titles.
-Southern Mississippi finished with 25 wins, second to Memphis in Conference USA.
-Denver finished second in the Sun Belt.

And though there is a thorough hate-hate relationship with Colorado, when the Bufflaoes won the Pac-12 conference tournament it added to the Rams’ resume. Had the Buffs not won, they’d be in the NIT. Now, CSU had a victory over another conference tournament champion to add to a pile of impressive victories all season long.

Walk-on steps up

The rise of senior guard Kaipo Sabas is arguably the best story on the team. The story goes like this: He goes to Miles in the offseason and says he’s willing to put in the work to earn more playing time. Miles doesn’t necessarily believe him. Sabas makes him a believer, knocking down shot after shot when it counts – in games. Then, the walk-on becomes a regular part of the rotation and earns a scholarship for the second semester. Movie-script stuff.

More importantly, Sabas, who totes a team-leading 45 percent shooting percentage from the 3-point line, gave CSU another legit shooter from distance. For a team that likes to relentlessly attack the basket, Sabas’ sharpshooting from deep allows the Rams to space the court even further, opening up more driving lanes, giving a team with a size deficit on most nights a chance to have an advantage on the offensive end.

Winning the close ones

In any season there will be at least a handful of close games. Good teams find a way to win them. Colorado State was 4-2 in games decided by five points or less this season. Add in a six-point win in double overtime over TCU on Jan. 14 and it’s 5-2. For the most part, when the moments were most pressurized, CSU came through with flying colors.

Winning at home

The first step to overall success is taking care of home. And at no other point during Tim Miles’ tenure did his team do a better job of that than this season. In his first four years, Colorado State was 35-29 (.546) at Moby Arena, a winning record, but by no means dominant.

This year, however, that changed. Colorado State found the formula, winning 14 of its 15 home games. The only loss was to Southern Mississippi – an NCAA Tournament team. The interesting part is pretty much no one can tell you definitively why they were so good in the Green Fortress. But after their last home game of the season Pierce Hornung gave it a shot.

“It’s the fans,” Hornung said. “The fans have done a tremendous job of coming out. They do a great job of making Moby crazy.”

CSU’s home records under Miles

2011-12: 14-1
2010-11: 9-5
2009-10: 13-4
2008-09: 8-10
2007-08: 5-10

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LAS VEGAS – It has been two days since Colorado State guard Wes Eikmeier was named to the Mountain West first-team, but the accolade continues to settle in.

“It’s a big honor, just to be mentioned with all of the top guys in our league,” Eikmeier said. “Especially how good our league is this year. I’m really honored by it. It’s a good thing to be humbled by.”

Eikmeier was CSU’s leading scorer and ranked second in the Mountain West at 16.0 points per game. He shot nearly 41 percent from the field and was the top free-throw shooter in the conference at 87.5 percent. He scored in double figures in 24 games for the Rams, including nine 20-point games, and scored a career-high 30-point effort against Boise State.

All Colorado State forward Pierce Hornung could do on a daily basis for the better part of a month was watch practice and hope his head cleared. For a period of time, everything was a blur. For a longer period of time, any type of exertion caused headaches and dizziness.

The concussion he suffered on Nov. 15 against Stanford had taken that much of a toll.

But last week the 6-5, 210-pound power forward returned to practice and is once again on schedule to play. He’ll return to the court Monday night when CSU faces Texas Southern at Moby Arena, the team’s first game in 12 days since losing at Duke.

“I’m very relieved,” Hornung said. “It took a lot longer than I anticipated or desired. It feels good to be back out there playing.”

Hornung’s toughness will be welcomed with open arms by the Rams, who could also use the extra body. Already short-handed on the season, CSU had just 10 available players in the time Hornung was out.

Hornung, who is averaging 7.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and is second on the team in blocks (3) and steals (6), said he’s not sure why symptoms lasted so long.

“I didn’t take myself out of the Stanford game, which probably wasn’t the smartest thing,” he said. “But who knows why it lingered as long as it did?”

Hornung said didn’t remember the play clearly, but believes he was struck in the mouth, chipping a tooth. He felt nauseous during second half warm-ups and struggled to be effective the rest of the game.

“The second half was a big blur,” Hornung said. “I don’t remember much of it at all.

“The only stuff I could remember in the second half was just thinking ‘What’s going on?’ Guys would tell me plays and I couldn’t remember what to do. Plays that we ran hundreds of times, and I couldn’t remember where to go. I couldn’t really remember anything. As I sat down and kind of came to my senses after the game I came up to the trainer and said ‘I had no idea what was going on out there.’

“I didn’t put two and two together really. I thought I got hit in the mouth, and I didn’t know that could count as a concussion. I don’t think I was thinking clear enough to say ‘Hey I need to come out of the game.’”

But now he’s back, working his way back into shape and has no intentions of changing the hard-charging, mix-it-up style fans and CSU coaches and teammates have come to know and love from him. He will, however, be fitted for – and wear – a mouthpiece for the remainder of the season. He had not worn a mouthpiece prior to the injury.

“The conditioning, I’ll get that back pretty quickly,” he said. “Playing like that it’s just instinctive. That’s how I’ve always played. So, it’s not going to be any different. It’s what I do. I don’t think about ‘You just hit your head, be careful’ or anything like that. So, I don’t think like that when I’m out there. I just play how I play.

“I’m very excited. I’ve been out way too long. It’s not fun to be on the bench watching. It’s a lot more fun to be out there.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Colorado State’s streamlined men’s basketball team gets going Tuesday (Nov. 1) against CSU-Pueblo. Consider in just two weeks, the Rams will open their NIT preseason regional against SMU in Palo Alto, Calif.

This could be Tim Miles’ most entertaining outfit despite the loss of fan favorites Adam Nigon and Andy Ogide. A beefed up Greg Smith will spark the pace and the Rams will get more minutes out of an improved Pierce Hornung.

Don’t worry about a center. Will Bell and Trevor Williams (both ailing) will be allowed to develop into their roles and the Rams will be fine with a small lineup. I had coffee last week with Miles, and he is quietly optimistic about this team, or as quiet as the exuberant coach ever gets.

Anyone who caught the Air Force loss at New Mexico last weekend might have noticed Lobos first-team All-MWC guard Dairese Gary briefly left the game to have a sprained ankle taped.

Colorado State fans shouldn’t expect him to miss the CSU-New Mexico quarterfinals Thursday for the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas.

“He’s fine,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said on Monday’s conference call. “Dairese will need a lot more than a sprained ankle to keep him out of competition.”

He led the Lobos with a 14.5 point average and was second in MWC assists averaging 5.5 a game. He had two of his worst outings against CSU, getting shut out despite playing 34 minutes in Albuquerque. When the Lobos visited Fort Collins, Gary played all but one minute and scored 16 points. Pierce Hornung, named the MWC Sixth Man of the Year, stole the ball from Gary to seal the 68-62 win.

New Mexico heads into the MWC Tournament with a 20-11 record but a No. 71 RPI (up from No. 90 the previous week) puts an NCAA bid out of reach without winning the conference tournament.

Alford had to mix in some new talent this year UCLA transfer Drew Gordon won newcomer of the year honors and Kendall Williams took freshman of the year. Gordon also was named to the All-MWC freshman team.

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.